Dec 4, 2020 · While the usage of ought to has been declining steadily in the last 300 years, it is still incredibly common. (The linked Ngram shows that it is roughly 1/3 as frequent as the word …

Verbs like ought, should, must, have to express degrees of desirability or probability, neither of which really apply to non-sentient things like branches. Maybe the branches "ought not reach" …

Mar 9, 2019 · 10 'Ought' is an archaic spelling of 'aught', which is another old word meaning 'anything' or 'any'. So the meaning is: None of the believers considered that any of the things …

Oct 2, 2019 · The use of "aught" and "ought" to mean "zero" is very much proscribed as the word "aught" actually means the opposite of "naught": "anything". This may be due to misanalysis, …

Oct 21, 2023 · It depends on whether the speaker has internalized ought as a separate item from oughtta. It's got no other use and it's rare with an uncomplemented infinitive. Phrases such as …

Nov 12, 2010 · What is the difference between You should go and You ought to go? I rarely use the latter.

As a result of this, the following "rule" is valid for remembering the modern English spelling of past participles that end in -aught/-ought: the spelling -aught contains the letter "a," and is used in …

Is it appropriate to omit to after ought? I ought to be disciplined for my insolence. Vs. I ought be disciplined for my insolence. Is it okay to omit the to?

Jun 14, 2021 · In literary works and legal situations, "ought" seems to be preferred - a matter of tradition, rather than meaning: perhaps originally because (for some reason) it was considered …

5 It's usually ought not to. The Google Ngram below shows that most of the time ought not is used, it is the first two words of ought not to. Many of the remaining cases appear to be …